Molded boat



y 1945. K. HQBOWEN 2,376,753

MOLDED BOAT Filed June 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 arvue/vvbo'v KENNETH H.BOWEN y 1945- K. H. BOWEN 2,376,753'

MOLDED BOAT Filed June 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 KENNE E H- B EN ZH'LsGum/nap aw M r 2 19 f 2,310,753 norm-2n noa'r Kenneth H. Bowen, Auburn,N..Y.,

Rope Com Columbian alalgnor to pany, Auburn, N. Y., a

corporation of New York Application June 19, 1944, Serial No. 541,031(Cl. 9-6) This invention relates to improvements in boats andparticularly to comparatively small watercraft.

The primary object of theinvention is to provide a boat or water-craftwhose hull, including the deck, is molded from a plastics composition ofbinder and filler materials. I

. Another object is to provide a molded plastics boat in which thestrengthening members are formed integrally with the main structuralelements of the boat. 1

.A still further object is to provide a boat that can be made ofpractically any design or shape by reason of the fact which the boat ismolded has the ability to readily conformto irregular contours orsurfaces of compound curvature whereby the boat may be made of a minimumnumber of molded pieces.

Another object is to produce a strong sturdy molded boat structure,particularly of the pleasure type such as outboard car top models bymolding the deck with upwardly oifset portions and with downwardlyoffset seat portions whereby maximum rigidity is imparted to thestructure as a whole.

A still further object is to provide anti-slip areas on the deck surfaceby molding the deck with sand or other granular material embedded in thesurface thereof at the desired points.

Still another object is to simplify the construc: tion of small boats bymolding them from ma.- terial that can be fabricated in sheets or websof such size and shape as to permit the deck, with or without integralseats or other offset portions, to be molded from a single sheet and theremainder of the boat, which will be termed the hull, to likewise bemolded from a single sheet regardless of the transverse or longitudinalcurvature of said hull, whereby there is produced an integral hull andan integral deck which in turn, if desired, may be bonded into asubstantially integral whole by the binder used in the composition fromwhich the boat is fabricated.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certaindetails of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts. allas will hereinafter be more fully described and the novel featuresthereof particu-, larly pointed out in the appended claims.

v In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention- Figure 1 is a top plan in accordance with Fig.2is a side view of a boat-fabricated the present invention; elevationthereof: a

that the material from.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the hull;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the stern of the hull; I

Fig. 4 is 'a perspective view of a modified form of deck; Fig. 5 is aperspective view of a separate seat element;

Fig. 6 is a schematic illustration of the crosssectional shape of theboat at the several points indicated by the lines ll; 2-2; 3-3; H;

5-5; 86 and 1-1 of Fig. 1; I

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view between the marginal portions of thehull and deck.

Fig. 8 is a similar sectional view illustrating a modification of themarginal edge of the hull.

The type boat used for purposes of illustration is known generally as anoutboard car top model and comprises what, for convenience, will betermed the hull portion and the deck portion 30, both made of a moldablematerial of such a nature that the hull and deck can each bemade of asingle sheetof said material. Preferably, this material consists of athermo-setting synthetic resinous binder and a filler composed of a webof comparatively long vegetable flbers,.the fibers being interlaced inthe web so that the latter, with or without the resinous binder, is asubstantially stable body. position of this type is fully disclosed inUnited States Letters Patent No. 2,249,888, granted July 22, 1941,wherein the fibers are shown as being fabricated in a stable web Hneedling operation. Of course, other types of binder and fillermaterials may be used but it I has been discovered that a sheet or webof needled fibers, such as described, can be drawn into various shapes,including compound curves without creasing and without substantiallydisturbing the uniform distribution of thefibers and hence it isespecially suited for the fabrication of boats wherein the structuralelements,

and deck'can each be produced from a single sheet. Integral reinforcingor strengthening ofiset portions can also be provided on thesestructural elements, if desired, each element and its reinforcementsbeing sheet. This is true whether or not the sheet of interlaced fibersis drawn to the desired shape A material or comor sheet by a so-calledsuch as the hull produced from a single n is illustrated at 31, Fig. 6,and openings maybe 1 i Also,-as shown in Fig. 7, additional strength thegunwale. Protection of the flange II or gun-- }will sift or distributeitself into or'through the multitude of interstices of the body. Wherethe binder is used in dry powderedform, it is preferred to apply heat tothe sheet with the powdered binder therein to raise the temperaturethereof to a point where the binder will be slight- 1y advancedand-rendered tacky whereby it cannot shake out of the flber body-butwill adhere thereto. 1 v As best shown in the schematic illustration ofFig. 6, the hull is of greatest width at approximately midship or at thepoint indicated by the line 4-4 of Fig. l. The cross-section of the boatat this point is indicated at 21in Fig. 6,,and from this point it tapersin both directions toward-the bow and stem. Its varying cross-sec-"tional shapes at the points indicated by the lines 13-4; 2-2 and i-l,approaching the how, are illustrated at 23, 22 and 2|, respectively. inFig. 6 and its gradually diminishing width toward the 20 stem isillustrated by the cross-sectional contours along the lines H; 8-8 and'I-'| of Fig. l which are indicated at 25, 26 and 21 in Fig. 6. Inaddition to this longitudinal, curvature, the sides of the hull are alsocurv'ed transversely from the gunwale down toward the keel id orlongitudinally medial line of the hull. Thedegree and extent of thistransverse curvature can, of course, be varied more or less at willdepending uponthe style or model of the boat. The rein- }forcing orbracing of the deck 30 is also best illustrated in Fig. 6. Along thelines l-l and 2-2, of Fig.1, the deck is offset or bulged upwardly asindicated at St, 32, respectively, in Fig. 6. It is also of the samegeneral formation along the line Fig. 1, as shown at 34, in Fig. 6.However, ialong the lines 3-! and 6-6, ofFig. 1, the deck is formed withdownwardly oifset portions as illustrated at 33 and 36 in Fig. 6. Incertain types pf boats, these downwardly oifset' portions may, 40 ,takethe form of seats which are integral with the ideck proper by reason ofthe seat ends 40, and the back 40, -in the case of the forward seat,merging directly into the deck. The contour of the deck along the line1-1, Fig. 1, at the stern provided, where desired, as sho'wnat 35, Fig.6, which illustrates across-section of the deck along the line 5- 5 ofFig.1. a Y

-As stated, the material previously described lends'to theformation ofthe deck, with its upwardly and downwardly offset portions all ofintegral formation but it will be appreciated that the same maybe madeof sectional construction and the sections united into a substantiallyintegral deck by bonding them together or they may be united in theflnalj structure by riveting as the molded material-is well adapted forthe use of rivets, one of which is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 7.Preferably, hull 20 is provided with an integral'flange ll, along thegunwale to which the marginal portions of the deck are attached by beingbonded or riveted thereto or both, as illustrated in Fig. 7.

maybe imparted to the boat structure, particu- 1 larly at thegunwale,'by the provision of an insert n. This insert i2 is preferablyof moldable ma- ;terial, if the hull and deck are bonded together butwood or metal inserts can be used, especially where the deck and hullare riveted together at wale, can be further augmented by molding oriotherwise securing a l n th of vegetable flber i rope I along the edgethereof. Also, as shown in This offset portion .0 is, in effect, areinforcing rib and similar integral ribs may readily be providedwherever deemed desirable. Such reinforcing panels or ribs need notnecessarily be formed I with angular corners because the moldingcompositions are easily moldable in surfaces of compound curvature andhence these reinforcing portions may readily be given a stream-lined Ieifect,if desired.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a'modifled construction in thatthe seats aremolded separately from the deck and the latter is formed with asuperstructure such as a top ii. In such a construction the seat I2may-extend entirely across the seat eleend of the seat and one of theside walls 53. The seat element is formed with a flange 56 extendingaround its upper edge and the deck element 50 is formed with a similarflange 50 so i that these two elements can be attached through saidflanges to the flange ll of the hull element 3 as previously described.If the deck is formed with a top or superstructure as shown in Fig. 4;

suitable sight openings or windows may be provided, as desired. Theprincipal feature is that each element is a one-piece structure withademolded in one piece the seats, as well as the upwardly offsetportions impart rigidity'to tlTe ele-. 1 ment.- Likewise, where separateseat and decl elements are used, as illustrated in,.Figs. 4 and 5, theseats themselves become the reinforcing means for the seat element andthe superstructure and other vertically offset portions of the 1 deckelement impart the desired rigidity to that element. Of course, when theseveral elements are assembled in the completed boat structure,

the reinforcing portions'of the several elements j combine with, orsupplement, one another to form a completed structure of'maximumstrength-a 1 result which is accomplished at very low cost by reason ofthe fact that a large saving in labor is quate reinforcing membersintegrally molded therewith. That is, where the seats and deck areeffected by the reinforcing members being molded safety to any desiredareas of that surface. Here, again, the fabrication of the boat bymolding is advantageous by reason of the ability to provide suchnon-slip areas by merely molding the nonslip material along with, or "aspart of, the mold- 1 able composition. I Fig. 8 illustrates a modifiedform of the flange II for the hull in that said flange is offset u'p-,-

wardly as at ll".

whatIclaimisz' 1. A boat formed of a molded composition con- 1 taining abinder and a filler, said boat comprising an integral, one-piece hullhaving a marginal flange extending around its upper edge, a deck 1attached at its-edge to said flange, and reinforc- 1 ing means for thedeck consisting of depressed seat portions formed integrally with saiddeck.

2. A boatformed of a molded composition comprising a binder and avegetable fiber filler, said boat comprising a one-piece hull and a deckintegrally fastened together, and said deck having integrally formedportions constituting seats onset below the deck and forming reinforcingmembers for said deck.

3. A molded boat hull formed'of a moldable composition of binder andvegetable flber filler. said hull having a deck portion with a granularmaterial molded in the exposed top surface thereof.

4. A molded boat formed of a moldable composition of binder andvegetable flber filler, said boat comprising a one piece hull elementand a one-piece deck element fastened together into an integratedstructure, and offset portions integral with the deck formingreinforcing members for the deck, and said hull being curvedtransversely throughout substantially its entire length and of graduallydecreasing width to both its stem and stem.

5. A molded boat formed of a moldable composition of binder and avegetable fiber flller, said boat comprising an integral hull elementand an integral deck section fastened together by said binder, said deckbeing formed with transverse upwardly curved portions at pointsintermediate the stem and stem and integrally formed, depressed seatportions intermediate said raised portions.

6. A molded boat composed of a moldable composition of binder and avegetable fiber flller, said boat comprising an integral hull elementand an integral deck element, said hull being curve transverselythroughout its length and of decreasing width toward its stem and stemfrom a point intermediate said extremities, a marginal flange integralwith the upper edge of the hull, said deck having integral verticallyoffset portions, said deck being secured along its marginal edge to theflange on said hull.

8. A two-piece boat structure formed of a moldable composition of binderand vegetable fiber filler, one piece of said structure constituting thehull element and the other piece constituting the deck element, saiddeck and hull elements being bonded by said binder into an integralstructure, and said deck having integral, vertically onset sectionsconstituting transverse bracing members for the boat. 9. A molded boatformed of a moldable composition of binder and filler materials, saidboat comprising an integral hull element, an integral seat elementnested in said hull element, and an integral deck element, all of saidelements being secured together along their marginal edges.

10. A molded boat formed of a moldable composition of binder and fillermaterials, said boat comprising a one-piece hull element formed with anintegrally molded marginal flange and an in tegral molded seat elementnested in said hull, said seat element also having an integral marginalflange supported on and secured to the marginal flange of the hullelement, and portions of the seat element being ofl'set vertically withrespect to the seat element flange and constituting transversereinforcing members for the boat. KENNETH H. BOWEN- a vegetable fiberflller,

extending above and

